Safety device for lap racks



June 9, '1 925. R. ALDRICH sum1' DEVICE Fon LAP Racks mad sept. *6, 1925 f Patented June 9, 1925.

UNITED STAT ROBERT ALDRICH, OF GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA.

SAFETY DEVICE 'son LAP Racxs.

Application led. September To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT ALDRICH, a citizen of the United States,y residing at Greenwood, in the county of Greenwood and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Lap Racks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itV appertains to make and use the same.

rThis invention relates to improvements in cotton lapping or picking machines, and has as its primary object provision against injury to the mechanism incident to excess pressure.

A further object in view is the adaptation of the invention for application to 1nachineryv already in use without undue expense and with assurance of the desired protection.

With these and further objects in view as will in part hereinafter become apparent and in part be stated, the invention comprises certain Vnovel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as subsequently specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,-

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the power transmitting parts comprising an embodiment of the present invention, a fragment of the lap rack release shaft being shown. y

Figure 2 is a vertical, transverse section taken on the plane of the contacting faces of the disc and the radial projection, andV looking toward the right.

Figure 3 is a similar view ofthe same looking toward the left.

Figure 4 is a detail, sectional elevation of the frictional release mechanism for the lap rack, parts being broken away and the parts being seen on a reduced scale.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, l indicates a lap rack of well known'construction and function, being provided with the usual lap head or loggerhead designed to overhang and exert pressure upon the lap shaft. As is well understood by those familiar with the art, there are usually two of the lap racks l, the other being omitted from Figure 2 and would normally appear at the left of the figure before-the parts being broken away for the saving of space. It is also well understood that as the size ofthe roll of lap increases, the lapy shaftfmust be s, '1923. serial No. 561,726.

'rack corresponding to rack l, so that the two racks will be released simultaneously and synchronously. To maintain the requisite pressure of the lap heads or loggerheads of racks l on the lap shaft, upward movement or release of the racks l is resisted by frictional resistance to rotation of the shaft 3.

To this end, the shaft 3 carries a gearwheel 4 meshing with a pinion 5 keyed to a jack shaft 6, which, in turn, carries the gear wheel 7 meshing with the pinion 8. The

pinion 8 is keyed or otherwise fixed to a sleeve 9 journaled on the shaft 3 for convenience, and carrying a brake drum or friction roller 10. The drum 10 is engaged by an appropriate friction brake shoe ll, which may be of any desired type,'such as the friction leather brake in common use. brake band or other friction creati-ng element `may be substituted for the shoe 11 so long as rotation of the chain of gears 8,7, 5v and l is. resisted, as required. 1n fact, some of these gears may very appropriately be omitted, if desired, and any preferable form of braking may be employed Vto effect resistance in the rotation of the gear 4, the gearing described being merely one of the well known sets commonly employed in this type ofmechanism. The gear 4 in the heretofore known system of gearing has been loosely mounted on shaft 3 and connected directly with the pinion 2, but the present improvements contemplates the interposition between pinion 2 and shaft 3 of a safety device for insuring against injury to any of the other parts of the. mechanism in the event of any such clogging action anywhere as will cause the upward stress on the rack `l to become so great as to produce breakage.

In the operation of mechanism of this class, it frequently happens that the rotation of the gearing is interfered with through clogging with particles` of lint, dust and dirt, so that the friction brake 11 cannot function normally to let off the rack .l as required.v When this occurs, if no provision is made for releasing lthe rack, the

-ion 2, and a power transmitting` sleeve 13 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 3 and connected with gear 4 to transmit the torsional stress to the gear 4, such stress being delivered from the'disc 12 to the sleeve 13 through a frangible pin 14, which pin is designed to 'be sheared or broken under less stress than that required for the breaking of any of the other .parts so as to insure release of the racks 1 whenever accumulated stress requires without injury to any other part than the pin 14. Thilo the parts 12 and 13 have been shown as bodily interposed in Figure 4 between pinions 2 and 4, it is to be noted that these parts may be otherwise located so long as the torsional stresses are delivered from the shaft 3 through the pin 14 or its equivalent to the gear 4 or its equivalent, so that reference to the interposition of the breakable part be` tween the pinion and gear is to be accepted as signi fyingthe functional rather than the actual physical relation of the parts.

The parts 12 and 13 are susceptible of quite a wide range of variation and modification within the spirit and scope of this invention, but for the purpose of definite- `ness one physical embodiment hask been shown in detail in the drawings, and more particularly in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, from which it will be observed that the disc 12 is preferablyof the split type having a ksplit boss 15 adapted to surround the shaft 3 and be clamped rigidly thereto by bolts 16, 1,6. As an additional precaution against possible slipping of the disc 12 on the shaft 3, set screws 17, 17 are employed, and itis to be understood that the disc 12 may be otherwise constructed and anchored to the shaft according' to the preference of the operatorv and the requirementsvof the conditions of the machine'to which the parts are to b e applied.` The disc 12 is formed with an aperture 18 designed to register with 'an aperture 19` in theradial projection 20fof the sleeve 13y for the accommodation of the frangible pin 14., The sleeve 13 is also preferab'ly of the split type with its parts bolted together,` but may be of other construction as preferred so long-as itl is susceptible of application to shaft 3 with reasonable facility. mThe sleeve 13"of course, is revolubly mounted on ythe shaft 3, and at itsend portion ,oppositey that carrying the radial projection 20 it -isprovided, with a Similar projection 21 having an offset portion 22 anda bifurcatedor forked terminus 23, .the fork providing an opening 24 for receiving a bolt or, pin 25 rigidly carried by and eX- tendinglaterally fromthe Vgear 4, whereby powerfis deliveredl from kthe sleeve 13 to the gear, and at the same time the parts are susceptibleofeasy land quick detachment byremoval of the bolts securing the split portions of the sleeve13 together. The disc 12 may be similarly easily removed so lthat a pin 14 may be readily replaced afterthe 'breakage of one in use.

It is to be observed that while the part 12 has been shown and described as a disc, it need not actually possess that contour,

'but may be constructed simply as a crank having a means of` anchorage', preferably detachable, to theshaft 3, and the sleeve 13 may consist of a pair of cranks, prefer- .a-bly detachable and rotatably mounted on shaft 3 and connected together, so that-one of them may receive power from ypin 14 and the other may deliver power to the pin 25. It is also to be observed thatl the excess stress on the lap racks required for the shearing of the pin 14. will be varied according to the distance of the pin from the axis of rotation, since the leverage varies with such distance. I, therefore, proposeto 'take advantage of this fact by providing an aperture 2G in the disc12and a corresponding aperture 27 in the crank or radial projection 20, which apertures are nearer thea-Xie vof the shaft 3 thanare the apertures 18 and 19, so that when it is desired to 'resist a greater amount of stress than may be done by 'pin 14 when located in apertures 18 and 19, it is only necessary to remove the pin from said apertures and place it in the apertures 26 and 27. The actual breaking stress may thus be varied and the breaking Y point adjusted as required withoutvariation -pin the character of material of the pin 14 or other change in the partsthan the' mere adjustment of the pin toward ror away vfrom theiaxis of rotation of shaft'3.

What is claimed 4is 1, In friction release lmechanism for lap* therefrom, anda sleeve adapted to be rev?)- lubly mounted on said shaft to engage said pin for receiving motiontherefrom to transmit such motion. Y

` 3. The ycombinationof a member 'adapted to be fixed to a lap rack release shaft, a franshaft, and a frangible pin carried by Said member' and adapted tol transmit Imotion gible pin carried by said number and adapted to transmit motion therefrom, a. sleeve adapted to be detachably Vand revolubly mounted on the shaft in position for receiving motion from the member and for transmitting such motion.

4. In friction release mechanism for lap racks, lease shaft, a gear fixed thereto and adapted to mesh with a rack, and a frictional resistance for the shaft, of a sleeve revolubly mounted on the shaft, a frangible pin engaging the sleeve, means fixed to the shaft foi` carrying the pin, and gearing engaged and actuated by the sleeve for transmitting motion to the frictional resistance.

5. The combination of a split disc, means for clamping the same to a lap rack release shaft, and a frangible pin carried by the disc for transmitting motion from the shaft.

6. A motion transmitting device for a lap rack release shaft comprising a split disc, and means for fixing the disc to a lap rack release shaft, the said disc having an aperture for receiving a motion-transmitting 1n. p 7. A motion transmitting device for a lap rack release shaft comprising a split disc,

and means for fixing the disc to a lap rack release shaft, the said disc having radially spaced apertures each proportioned and the combination, with a lap rack readapted to receive a motion-transmitting pin. y

8. A motion transmitting device for a lap rack release shaft comprising a sleeve adapt-V ed to be revolubly mounted on the shaft and having a crank arm formed with a pin-receiving aperture, the said ,sleeve having a motion-transmitting projection.

9. A motion transmitting device for a lap rack release shaft comprising a. sleeve adapted to be revolubly mounted on vthe shaft and having a crank arm formed With radially spaced apertures, each proportioned and adapted to receive a motion-transmit ting pin, the sleeve also having a motiontransmitting projection. e

10. A vmotion transmitting device for a lap rack release shaft comprising a sleeve adapted to be revolubly mounted on such shaft, said sleeve having outstanding crank arms, one adapted to receive and the other to transmit motion, one of said arms having an opening designed to receive a motiontransmitting pin. p

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ROBERT ALDRIGH.

Witnesses: l

J. FLORUY, ROBERT SEYMOUR. 

